Kraków – the space of many creative initiatives and the city of artists – has been depicted in numerous literary works. It has been portrayed by novelists and poets. It is inscribed in the consciousness of readers as the city of artists, literary salons, an influential cultural centre, and a place of national monuments: the city which casts an amazing, almost magical spell. However, most anthologies or literary guides of Kraków do not include descriptions of how the city was depicted by Jewish artists. Only a few of them are quoted, e.g. the bard of Kazimierz and the poet of the Kraków Ghetto, Mordechaj Gebirtig, and authors of post-war memoirs, such as Miriam Akavia, Natan Gross, and Roma Ligocka. Their works usually appear in the context of the pre-war multiculturalism of the city or in the context of the Holocaust. Therefore, it might seem that the narrative by Kraków's Jews concludes with the tragic chapter of the Shoah. However, this is not the case. After the war, there were multiple literary accounts which for years have been waiting to be critically read and analysed.

This publication is an attempt to recreate the image of post-war Kraków as it is depicted in Jewish personal accounts. This includes the images of the society and of the city space. Additionally, the aim of this book is to depict how narratives present the experiences of living in post-war Kraków, emigration, and returning, after many years, to places which are important to the authors for biographical reasons. The post-war Jewish literary account is usually built according to the recurring, following structure: pre-war life – wartime – post-war return to Poland – preparing to leaving Poland and emigration – living in a different country – return. These worlds of subjective feelings and impressions show many joint characteristics which enable the author of this book to present a common image of the city.

The meeting will be led by Dr. Marta Duch-Dyngosz.
Partner: Austeria Publishing House